A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 1)

“Taryn.”

I was shoving at the cement walls now, but there was nothing. It was a huge slab of cement. That was it. A choked sob was sitting in me, doubling in size. I started pounding harder on the wall. This couldn’t be the end.

“Taryn.”

He was calm. How the fuck was he calm?

“Taryn.” Tray was right behind me. His hand touched mine, coming to rest on top of it. He stood there, right behind me, with that one hand stopping me. His lips grazed my skin and he whispered, “There’s no door.”

No… He was probably right. A whimper left me now. I couldn’t hold it back in. “I’m so sorry, Tray.”

His other hand wrapped around me, and he folded his body over mine, hugging me from behind. I bit down on my lip to keep more sobs from escaping.

No, no, no. It couldn’t end like this.

He turned me around, then looked down at me. His eyes were full of love, patience, kindness, and strength. I absorbed all of them, feeling them mingling with the storm of rage, fear, and gloom inside me. I choked out, “I’m sorry about Jace, about the hotel.”

He shook his head. “Shut up. You didn’t even know yourself. I get it.” He hesitated then. “Did you mean it?”

My text. I nodded. There was no hesitation on my part. “Yes.”

“That’s enough for me.” Bending down, his lips rested on top of mine. He didn’t apply pressure, he just let our lips touch each other, feeling the slight promise of more. He said, “I love you too. It’s why I came.”

I had gotten him killed. I knew without a doubt that’s what was going to happen. I looked up into his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up.” Then he cupped the back of my head and kissed me. I clutched at him, losing myself in the taste of him. He had come for me. He had done it because he loved me. Euphoria began to fill me. It built, climbing on top of a fevered rush. We were probably going to die, but we were together. It was the best way to go out.

Then a loud bang thundered over our heads. Tray pressed me back, using his body to protect me again. At the same second we moved, a slab of cement dropped where we had been standing. He saved my life again. Shit. We looked up to see a gun pointed right at us.

Jace.

My heart dropped.

Tray moved me back, closer to the edge of the tunnel and Jace dropped down through the hole. A rough voice called down, “Is that them? Open the other hatch.”

Still holding his gun steady, Jace knelt, felt under a rock, and pulled it up. The side of the wall moved back and an older man wearing a black button down shirt and tailored black pants stepped through the clearing. His skin was tan and weathered from too much sun. His eyes were beady and they were fixed on me. They narrowed as he asked, “Is this that girl?”

This must’ve been Galverson.

Jace didn’t answer him. He was staring at me. There were bags underneath his eyes and a slight curl in his top lip, so I knew he was furious. His grey eyes pierced through me. A black shirt hugged every inch of his chest, falling over black cargo pants. He was sweaty with dirt all over him. A scrape of mud was on his cheek, as if his hand rubbed his face and left it behind. My eyes fell to some tears in his shirt. Blood seeped through them and the stench of dried blood wafted to me.

“Lanser.”

Tray’s arm curled around me, pushing me behind him, but I had the gun. My hand was squashed between us. They didn’t know I had it, Tray felt the barrel pressed against his back. I knew he was doing this on purpose. We needed any advantage we could get.

Galverson scoffed and turned to Tray. His eyes narrowed. His head tilted to the side, and he pursed his lips forward. “You’re that Evans boy?” He hit Jace in the shoulder, whose only reaction was to slide his eyes sideways. Dark hatred stirred in the depths

of Jace’s eyes, but his boss was clueless. He pointed at Tray. “I thought you were supposed to have taken care of him years ago?”

Jace was barely moving. He stood as still as a statue, but he moved to the side two steps. He moved with such grace it was like watching an animal getting ready to attack.

My free hand tightened on Tray’s arm. He felt me shaking, and his finger started to rub over mine, trying to soothe me.

Galverson cast his employee a dark look, and then swung back to us. He jerked his chin up as he said, “You, girl, since this wacko seems mute now, tell me who you are.”

“I’m Taryn.” I stopped. They heard the trembling in my voice. Brian’s face flashed in my mind. The shaking stopped. His memory steadied me, and I remembered the loathing I had for Jace again. He was the reason for all of this. I raised my chin and my eyes narrowed. “You took something of mine. I took it back.”

There was a moment of silence. Tray stiffened in front of me.